Discover where you're losing minutes in the day––and learn how to recover them

Gaining more hours in the day is at the top of every busy person's wish list. But what if we told you that scoring more time is just a matter of rethinking your routine? We spoke to organizing and productivity experts to find out where most people are losing time each day, plus simple tactics for getting those lost minutes back.

Many people like to start their day by tuning in to one of the morning news shows. While it's a great way to get informed, "it's easy to get caught up in a story and then find out you're actually watching much more television than you intended," says Debbie Rosemont, productivity consultant and owner of Simply Placed. To prevent getting sucked into the TV vortex, give yourself a time limit—maybe even set a timer—so you know when you have to tune out. Really can't peel yourself away from the screen? Consider turning on some music to supplement your morning routine instead. Photo: Thinkstock

2. Treat your favorite websites as rewards, not as part of your daily routine.

"People who are really hooked on Facebook or blogs will jump on them first thing in the morning," says Rosemont. "Instead, use them as rewards for completing tasks." Getting online before accomplishing anything will delay your more important tasks of the day. So get one important thing done first, like tackling that mountain of dirty dishes in the sink, then take a 10-minute break to hop online, Rosemont recommends. Photo: Shutterstock

Thanks to laptops, smartphones and free WiFi, most of us are guilty of being too in-touch. "A lot of people look back at their day and say, 'Gosh, where did my time go?'" says Rosemont. "And the answer is that a lot of their time went to checking email." It seems obvious to try to peek at your inbox less frequently, but for many of us, the temptation is too great. If you use a program like Outlook or Entourage at work, instead of having your inbox refresh every minute, switch your settings so it pulls in new emails every half hour or hour. That way you'll score more uninterrupted work time because you won't be tempted by incoming messages. Photo: Creatas Images

"How many times have you opened up an email and closed it over and over again because you can't decide how to respond to it?" asks Russell Bishop, a personal organization expert and author of Workarounds that Work. "Each time you do that, it takes about one minute to process the information in the message." So if you do that 10 times, you've just lost 10 minutes. Instead, each time you open a message, decide right then and there what action you plan to take. If replying to an email will take less than two minutes, it's important to tackle it immediately, Bishop stresses. "You won't save any time if you come back to it later––you'll just waste time by opening and mentally processing the message again." For messages that require more thought or work, he advises making an email folder to drag them into so that they won't get buried and forgotten about in your inbox. Photo: iStockphoto

Even if you aren't the social butterfly of your office, getting up to do work-related tasks like copying or delivering files to coworkers can seriously zap your time. "The less you get up and walk somewhere, the fewer distractions you'll have," says Diane Albright, a professional organizer and owner of All Bright Ideas, who notes that each time you step away from your desk, you risk being ambushed by conversations and unplanned interruptions. So while getting up to stretch your legs can improve productivity, gabbing with your coworker at the copy machine is just lost time. To limit your roaming to a minimum, keep bins or folders on your desk labeled "To Shred" or "To Copy" so you can corral tasks to handle all at once, Albright recommends. Photo: Stockbyte

Don't have a designated landing spot at the office for incoming mail or paperwork? That means that every time someone delivers something, you have to stop what you're doing so they can hand it to you. "Make people understand your environment by creating an inbox with a large, clear label," suggests Albright. That way you won't lose your focus each time someone drops by with a delivery. Photo: Stockbyte

"When people want to relax at night, they turn on the television. But before they know it, they end up watching show after show because they're too tired to get off the couch and get ready for bed," says Albright. The result? A loss of valuable sleep time. Albright's advice: "Before you even hit the power button on the remote, have everything ready for the next day and for bedtime." That means packing lunch for the kids, brushing your teeth and putting your pajamas on. Then, when you're ready to go to bed, you can hit the hay almost instantly. Photo: Shutterstock

Getting more zzz's sounds counterintuitive to gaining more hours in the day, right? Not according to psychiatrist and psychotherapist Tracey Marks, MD, author of Master Your Sleep. "If you don't sleep, you become inefficient and waste a whole lot more time during the day than you would if you were sleeping properly," she says, adding that sleep is a restorative process for our bodies and minds. "Sleep tends to be one of those things that's expendable in some people's minds, but you then end up working slower the next day because you process information more sluggishly when you're sleep-deprived." Photo: Jupiterimages